On July 29, 2022, a temporary restraining order was issued against Detective Michael Proto. Proto violated that order by contacting the victim and was charged with contempt of the judge's order. The criminal charge was later dismissed, but an administrative charge of conduct unbecoming under Ocean County Prosecutor's Office policy was sustained. Proto received a 180-day suspension.
- The commission of any specific act or acts of immoral
improper
disorderly or intemperate personal conduct which reflects discredit upon the employee themselves
their fellow employees
or upon the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
Separated while IA pending
No
Synopsis as reported by the agency
On July 29, 2022, a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO ) was issued against Det. Michael Proto. Detective Proto violated that order by contacting the victim and was subsequently charged with contempt of the judge's order. Subsequently, the criminal charge for violating the order was dismissed however, an administrative charge for violating the OCPO policy for was sustained.
Similar records
AnalysisComputed by this site from shared agency, year, charge category, and sanction outcome. Not a legal or factual equivalence.
Melissa Rose · Ocean County Prosecutor's Office · 2023
Suspended 8 days
Sustained charge(s): Conduct Unbecoming - The commission of any specific act or acts of immoral, improper, disorderly or intemperate personal conduct which…
same agency · same year · similar sanction outcome
No confident pension match found. This site links a pension record to a named officer only when the name and the exact employing agency both match a New Jersey Treasury record. Where that bar is not met, nothing is shown rather than a guess. See methodology for how these matches are made and what is withheld.
Questions and answers
What is a summary of Michael Proto's major discipline record?
On July 29, 2022, a temporary restraining order was issued against Detective Michael Proto. Proto violated that order by contacting the victim and was charged with contempt of the judge's order. The criminal charge was later dismissed, but an administrative charge of conduct unbecoming under Ocean County Prosecutor's Office policy was sustained. Proto received a 180-day suspension.
What is Michael Proto's major discipline record at Ocean County Prosecutor's Office?
Michael Proto has one major discipline record at Ocean County Prosecutor's Office in the New Jersey Attorney General's 2020-2025 releases, from 2023. These are final, adjudicated actions, not allegations.
How large is Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, the department Michael Proto worked for?
Ocean County Prosecutor's Office reported 65 sworn officers to the FBI for 2025. This is department-level context from the FBI's Law Enforcement Employees census, not a statement about Michael Proto individually.
Sources
[1]New Jersey Major Discipline Data, 2020-2025. New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. Sheet "Major Discipline Data", row 1845. Snapshot retrieved 2026-07-03. ↩
[2]FBI Law Enforcement Employees (LEE), New Jersey subset. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Row 8537. Derived from the public Law Enforcement Employees (LEE) / Police Employee Data dataset (1960-2025), https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/. ↩